Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 July 2020
116. Deputy James Browne asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans to revise the solar panel grants scheme for private residences; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18987/20]
View answerThe solar PV Scheme, which commenced in July 2018, targets domestic customers, solar PV installations (rooftop solar panels), self-consumption (grant to assist with installation costs with no tariff for export) and battery energy storage systems (BESS). The Scheme was reviewed in December 2019 and the costs of installation were assessed. Some grant changes were made to the scheme arising from that assessment. As of end June 2020 there were 3,086 applications who received grant support to date, costing approximately €7.6m with over 10,700kWp installed. The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland administer the Scheme on behalf of my Department and full details of grant rates are available at: www.seai.ie The Programme for Government commits to prioritising the development of micro-generation, letting people sell excess power back to the grid by June 2021. Development in this area may involve changes to the solar panel grants scheme. The measures set out below will assist in delivering this commitment.
The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) published a Roadmap for the Clean Energy Package’s Electricity and Renewables Directives in March this year, which provides for a public consultation on the regulatory framework for prosumer development later this year. The document is available on the CRU website www.cru.ie.
A Micro-Generation working group, chaired by my Department, is examining an enabling framework for micro- generation which tackles existing barriers and establishes suitable supports within relevant market segments. The proposed support mechanism will be outlined in a public consultation in Q3 2020.
A suitable support payment for excess electricity generated on site and exported to the grid will, therefore, be available to all micro-generators in accordance with the timeline set out in the Programme for Government. Developing a Solar Energy Strategy for rooftop and ground, based photovoltaics, to ensure that a greater share of our electricity needs is met through solar power is another Government commitment in the Programme.
